A kitten heel is a stiletto heel of less than 2 inches in height; some are as low as 1.25 inches. They were introduced in the late 1950s as formal fashion attire for young adolescent teenage girls as higher heels would have been considered unseemly for girls as young as 13 because of the sexual connotations (something that does not seem to worry shoe manufacturers or the parents of some early teenagers and even tweenager girls today!). They were sometimes referred to as "trainer heels" in the USA indicating their use in getting young girls used to wearing high heels. However by the early 1960s they became fashionable for older teenagers and eventually for women of all ages until the demise of the stiletto heel in the late 1960s. They emerged again in the 1980s and have become once again fashionable since 2003.

They are classified as Stilettos and despite their lack of height are generally classified as 'high heels' and 'fuck me pumps' because of their sex appeal; particularly when teamed with a sharp pointed toe. This is an anomaly because a shoe or pump with regular wide heels of 1.5 inches high would be considered a 'flat shoe' and generally devoid of sex appeal; it is the addition of a stiletto heel, however short, that turns it into a sexual accessory.

“As he was looking in the shop window, the unmistakeable click clicking of multi stiletto heels on the cool marble floors reached his ears, echoing around the mall and his mind turned to pleasurable thoughts of who might be wearing them as the sound got louder and louder. How many were there, two.. three.. perhaps four? He felt his manhood stir and judging them almost behind him he turned to look at the stiletto clad beauties that his mind had conjured up only to find himself looking into the eyes of three kitten heeled girls of about 13! He blushed deep red in embarrassment at his mistake and turned away feeling foolish as the now giggling girls clicked and clattered off in their precocious footwear!”